Multi-stakeholder perceptions of school and performance pathway talent development environments

Understanding talent development (TD) through the lens of a single talent development environment (TDE) risks overlooking the ways in which organisations and contexts may influence the broader developmental experience. Consequently, understanding of the totality of the TD experience remains incomplete. Increasingly, researchers have highlighted the need to examine how youth athletes navigate the physical and social milieus in which organised learning and training occur. School and performance pathway environments often co-exist within student-athletes’ development, creating a distinctive feature of talent development systems. Although schools often provide a supportive infrastructure for TD, their provision may operate separately from parallel contexts such as performance pathways. To compare perceptions of environmental quality across these settings, the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire (TDEQ-5) was administered to student-athletes in relation to both School and Pathway environments. Recognising that TD is a collective, multi-stakeholder endeavour, parents (TDEQ-5P) and coaches (TDEQ-5C) also provided perceptions of both environments. Findings revealed stakeholder and dimension specific differences in perceptions of environmental quality across School and Pathway settings, rather than a consistent overall advantage for either environment. Communication was rated higher in the Pathway environment overall, while stakeholder groups differed in their evaluations of long-term development, holistic preparation, expectations and support. These findings identify priorities for future research examining how support is coordinated across School and Pathway talent development environments.